Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent the views of the congregation I joyfully serve. But my congregation loves me!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Obama Is Teflon

I watched all three presidential debates and the vice presidential debate. This last showed the clear distinction between the candidates. McCain has nothing much going for him and he tried to make it about Obama. Obama easily weathered McCain's attacks. He addressed each with facts then spoke to the camera about what he thinks Americans need to do. He will win this election and he will do it on his terms. I made a similar comment after the first debate.

Come January 20th when Obama takes office, America will be in a heap of a mess. I don't envy Obama's task. These next few years--I mean decades--will require of Americans something we have not done since the Great Depression and World War 2. We will have to work together for a common purpose larger than any of us. We cannot predict the specifics but we can know that our lives will be changed dramatically. This will happen regardless of who is president.

This is our time. When I say "our" I mean every American. More than that, I mean the human race. It has been said that the American military is at war while Americans are at the mall. This is changing. No more military battles to secure "our way of life." This way of life which has been to consume and discard beyond Earth's means is ending. We won't be battling an enemy like our parents and grandparents did in WW2. We will battling for a new way of life.

All of our efforts will be focused on energy, food production, green technology, and volunteer service to rebuild our infrastructure for a post-fossil fuels future. We will be cooperating with our neighbors to grow food locally, to help each other stay in our homes, to make these homes energy efficient and sufficient, and to help each other through crises that these changes (and our previous lack of response to change) will bring.

We are in for a huge challenge. This challenge will be larger than any we have faced before. It will require new levels of cooperation locally and globally. Can we do it? Obama says, "Yes, we can."

It appears that he'll have the opportunity to see if Americans have it in them.